Print this article FMS FEATURE ARTICLE...October 29, 2004Elmer Bernstein RememberedHundreds attend memorial tribute to dearly loved composerby Jon BurlingameMore than 300 friends, family members and colleagues celebrated the
life and career of composer Elmer Bernstein at a memorial service
Wednesday night on the Paramount Pictures lot in Hollywood.

Bernstein, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning composer of such classic film
scores as To Kill a Mockingbird, The
Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape, died
Aug. 18 after a long illness. He was 82.

The esteem in which he was held, and the affection felt for him, was
indicated not only by the speakers but by the crowd of high-profile
composers, lyricists, musicians, directors and other members of the
Hollywood community in attendance.

Pianist Mike Lang opened the service with a solo-piano version of
To Kill a Mockingbird, arranged by the composer in
1979 for his daughter Emilie. She then took to the podium and told the
crowd that her father had, in the last days of his illness, said "I
have lived a good life. I did everything I wanted to do."

Emilie and her sister Elizabeth introduced director John Landis, who
worked with Bernstein on eight projects including National
Lampoon's Animal House. Landis served as host for the event,
reversing the inevitably downbeat mood by regaling the audience with
amusing anecdotes – notably a prank they pulled on notorious German
director Leni Riefenstahl while they were in Munich in 1985 scoring
Spies Like Us.

ASCAP president Marilyn Bergman (who with her husband Alan
collaborated with Bernstein on From Noon Till Three
and other films) called Bernstein "a composer for all seasons...
really a dramatist who crept into the fabric of every movie."

She praised his leadership within the film-music community during the
1970s when, as president of the Composers and Lyricists Guild of
America, he led a decade-long battle with the movie studios and TV
networks for a greater share of music-ownership rights that would have
benefited all creators of movie and TV music.

Peter Bernstein called his father "a fundamentalist in his own inner
religion of creativity" and spoke of his "relentless optimism.... He
deeply believed in the artistry of his profession." He recalled
watching, at the age of 9, his father conducting The
Magnificent Seven score and marvelling at the dynamic
qualities he brought to the recording.

Two of his father's favorite words, he said, were "grace" and "joy."

Lyricist Don Black recalled working with Bernstein on True
Grit and the Broadway musical Merlin – as
well as such "landmark motion pictures," he added, tongue-in-cheek, as
Where's Jack?, The Midas Run and
Cahill, U.S. Marshal.

"He had enough energy to illuminate a small town," Black said. "I
shall miss his warmth, his wit, his ready laugh, his boyish bounce –
even his turtleneck sweaters."

Producer Noel Pearson recounted stories from their 30-year friendship,
including a pub encounter with Irish poet Christy Brown, whose life
Pearson would later dramatize in the film My Left
Foot – which, he said, Bernstein scored for free. "Elmer's
masterpieces have been completed," he said, "and because of those
masterpieces, he'll always be with us."

Gregory Bernstein told surprising and funny stories relating to his
father's "problem with authority figures," including a memorable
outing in which the fast-driving sports-car aficionado Bernstein
eluded a police officer in the hills above Hollywood.

He spoke of his father's "fearlessness" and the confidence that
resulted in everything he did. "Failure was not part of his lexicon,"
he said. He recalled Bernstein playing the piano with "such vigor,
such energy, such force."

Gregory also confirmed that his father had died of cancer, noting that
just days after surgery, and later radiation treatments, Bernstein was
active and back in the swing of life, piloting his boat and talking
about future projects.

Director Martin Scorsese – whose film The Age of
Innocence brought Bernstein an Oscar nomination – sent a
personal video tribute, calling him "amazingly versatile," whether
working in a jazz idiom, a grand symphonic palette or with the
intimacy of chamber music.

"He always understood the emotional arc of whatever picture we were
working on," Scorsese said. "He was the one composer who truly bridged
the gap between the old Hollywood and the new. It was a pleasure and
an honor for me to work with him," he added. "He was a giant in the
history of cinema. He will always be a giant."

Composer James Newton Howard spoke of his "deep sense of connection"
with Bernstein and said that the man's "dignity and uncompromising
professionalism" had influenced and inspired him. Bernstein's music,
he said, "exudes humanity."

Far From Heaven director Todd Haynes, in remarks
filled with emotion, said that his film had been "graced beyond
belief" by Bernstein's music. He said they had talked about
collaborating on a film about Sigmund Freud.

Bernstein, he said, was "almost English in his old-world
sophistication." He spoke of the composer's "ebullient warmth" and
called him "a man of instinctive openness and elemental cool... an
unrepentent liberal... a gentle mind and a solid heart."

Pianist Lang executed a brilliantly jazzy version of The Man
With the Golden Arm and, late in the program, a touching
rendition of the theme for Far From Heaven. Guitarist
Christopher Parkening, accompanied by pianist Paul Henning, played
excerpts from the second movement of Bernstein's guitar concerto.

A letter of condolence from composer John Barry was also read. The
95-minute program concluded with a montage of clips from 25 of his
films along with photos from his life set to his own recent European performance of The Magnificent Seven; and a champagne
toast to the maestro led by Bernstein's manager Robert Urband.